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released by Buena Vista Video for Home Video release only
Buena Vista Home Video
100 minutes
$16.99
catalog # ISBN: 0-7888-1107-X





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—by Isaac J. Sher
When Disney announced that they had acquired the rights to the
works of Hayao Miyazaki, many in the anime fan community panicked, despite
assurances that the content of the films would be unchanged. KIKI'S
DELIVERY SERVICE is the first of these films to be released in the USA, and
The Mouse has produced a top-notch dub, giving this
classic film the treatment it deserves.
For those unfamiliar with the film, the story revolves around
Kiki, a 13-year old country girl from a family of Witches. As Witch training
traditions dictate, she leaves home to settle in a new city.
Kiki's only magic power is her ability to fly on a broomstick, so she
sets up shop as a delivery girl, meeting new friends in the process.
It's a beautiful movie, filled with rich visuals, lively characters,
and a very moving script.
Disney has pulled out all the stops in casting the voices for this
film, hiring high-profile Hollywood stars...and thank goodness, it
works. Kristin Dunst, who is most famous for her role as a child
vampire in INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE, gives a perfect performance as
Kiki. Each line is clearly spoken, the essence of the character coming
through wonderfully with each word. Honestly, I cannot think of a single
criticism for Ms. Dunst.
The supporting cast is excellent as well; Tombo, Kiki's exuberant
boyfriend-to-be, is brought to life very nicely by Matthew
Lawrence. Ursula, the young painter, is now voiced by
Janeane Garofolo...who, unfortunately, could have done a better job than
she did. While the tone and sound of her voice matches the Japanese
version of the character perfectly, her delivery is a bit weak...it lacks
a certain energy. She's good, but not great. Kiki's benefactor, Osono of
the bakery, is voiced by Tress MacNeille, one of the most prolific voice
actresses in American animation. Her mimicry of the original Osono is spot-on.
Debbie Reynolds and Edie McClurg round out the cast as
Madame and Bertha, respectively, giving charming renditions of the lovable
old ladies who befriend the young witch.
And then there's Jiji. Kiki's talking black cat is voiced by the
recently deceased Phil Hartman, and his performance is combines both the
best and the worst aspects of this film. In the original, Jiji was
voiced by Sakuma Rei, a woman, though the cat was still clearly supposed
to be male. Hartman's performance sounds absolutely nothing like the
original, but it's brilliant, all the same. The cynical sarcasm is
conveyed with great skill, and the overall performance is one that I think
will charm new and old viewers alike. But not all of those lines he's
giving are in the original.
The major difference between the American and the Japanese scripts
is that Jiji has nearly a third more lines than he did originally. It's rumored
that Hartman improvised many of these new lines himself in the studio, and
that Studio Ghibli was pleased enough with the result that they let these
new bits stay in. I'm glad they did, for the most part. Ninety percent
of these new lines are absolutely hysterical, and fit in perfectly with
the flow of the scene. But that other ten percent? Not so good.
Thankfully, it was never painfully bad, just no longer
perfect.
The other area that saw some change is the music. Instead
of dubbing new english lyrics onto the existing opening and closing songs,
(such as was done for 20th Century Fox's dub of MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO),
Disney opted instead to replace the songs with new original pieces
which are both quite nice, and fit the mood of KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE
well. The musical score has had nothing removed, but there are a few
minor additions. Scenes that were silent before now have slight musical
accompaniment, with mixed success. To a diehard fan of the original,
these additions may feel odd, or wrong; a new viewer won't mind, though,
as the music fits with the rest of the score, and isn't too jarring.
One week after it's American release on September 1st, KIKI'S DELIVERY
SERVICE was #8 in tape sales (#1 being TITANIC), a good omen for the public
acceptance of these "new" films brought over from Japan. With luck, the
next generation of American children will look back on KIKI with
the same fondness that my generation does for family films like BAMBI or
DUMBO. The best hopes, not the worst fears, of American anime fans
have been realized with this superlative
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